I’ve decided to take a big step in my social/dance life – I’m going to branch out and start becoming involved in the Phoenix and Tucson dance scenes. I’m planning to attend lots of performances and learning the culture of the dance communities as well as attending some workshops. Most exciting – I’m hoping to find another teacher that I can take lessons from about once a month to help polish my technique more and maybe help correct some of the sloppiness that has surely developed over the years.
My overall goals for branching out is to get to know some of the people I’ve had very peripheral contact with, become more familiar with the latest trends, learn everything I can, and generally have my mind blown by amazing dance and dance contacts! I need to develop more – not only in my technique, but also in my musicality and artistic expression, which is very hard for me to do all on my own. I’m also hoping to develop more distinct goals – but right now, I don’t know enough about what I don’t know to really develop distinct goals.
There is SO MUCH going on, especially in Phoenix, that I could stay very busy just attending events – which I’m looking forward to doing! Many thanks to my Facebook and other friends for keeping me up to date on what’s going on – I’m looking forward to meeting all of you in the upcoming months!
On another note – I’m very excited about my zill playing – I feel like I’m FINALLY starting to get the hang of it! My current teacher, Samra, has really been emphasizing zill playing lately. While I still have trouble maintaining a regular rhythm with twists (for some reason, twists and I aren’t all that compatible), I was able to continue playing past our established choreography into new choreography without much hesitation! Normally I would need to really intellectualize it and understand how the musical count and zill count overlap, and stuff and things, but didn’t need any of that tonight! I’m going to have to start practicing on my own more at home with my zill mufflers to really get a sense of improvement and continue improving.
